PROVIDENCE, RI—What adult behaviors help LGBT youth maintain their safety and self esteem? How do teachers help them to grow, or threaten their learning? How can educators learn from the bullying experiences they have endured?

Calling on the compelling voices of students themselves, Queer Youth Advice for Educators, by Abe Louise Young, offers concrete and possibly life-saving tips for all adults who are ready to provide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth with a supportive and equitable learning environment.

At a time of heightened public attention to the scourge of bullying, the experiences of LGBT youth in many schools—“high performing” or not—provide heartbreaking reminders that they especially need support in school. In a school of 1,000 students, up to 100 will be gay, lesbian, or bisexual; 10 will be transgender; and 1 will be intersex (biologically neither male nor female). If their lives are average, 87 of them will be verbally harassed, 40 of them will be physically harassed, and 19 will be physically assaulted in the next year, because of their sexual orientation or gender expression. Sixty-two will feel mostly unsafe going to school. Thirty will harm themselves in what may be suicide attempts.

Youth from around the U.S. detail in this moving short book how they are treated in the classroom and the schoolyard, and describe the strategies educators can use to help them stay safe. It’s not being LGBT that causes the problems, these young people say. The problems are the outcome of intolerant actions and speech by peers, parents, teachers, clergy, and strangers. Bullying is a symptom of the culture.

Queer Youth Advice for Educators: How to Respect and Protect Your Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Students is a unique resource that brings the voices of queer youth to the educator’s table. Calling on their insights and experiences, we can learn how to address this culture of discrimination in everyday teachable moments.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Writer and educator Abe Louise Young was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1976. Her special focus is helping young people take action for social change through the written word. She has spent half her life teaching writing and organizing communities. She is the editor of Hip Deep: Opinion, Essays, and Vision from American Teenagers (Next Generation Press), and author of numerous articles and poems. Please visit her at www.abelouiseyoung.com.

WHY LGBT YOUTH ARE SPEAKING OUT TO EDUCATORS

[If I were bullied at school] I wouldn’t tell anyone else about it because I don’t think my teachers or parents would be any more accepting of my sexuality than the harasser. – Adam

Teachers need to step up! By making sure that this type of hate language—or all hate language!— isn’t accepted in the classroom. – Annie

I have been to so many schools . . . I don’t know why, I just keep moving. I guess I was looking for someplace I would feel right. Not feel bad, freaked out. And someplace where the teachers would appreciate me. – Marcela

I feel the school tries to not address the elephant in the room, but this year has been revolutionary. The kids have taken the gay rights movement into their own hands. – Eddie

WHAT EDUCATORS ARE SAYING ABOUT THIS COMPELLING BOOK

This compilation of urgent youth voices is a critical reminder that sometimes the most important thing an adult ally can do is listen. Eliza Byard, Executive Director, GLSEN

A rich, important, and powerful work, in which students teach us about their experiences and their wishes for safe, respectful and civil schools. I hope every K–12educator reads and reflects on this wonderful book.Jonathan Cohen, President, National School Climate Center

In this essential book, LGBTQ youth tell us about peer and adult actions that hurt them—and, even more important, about peer and adult actions that have helped them live good lives.Stan Davis, author of Schools Where Everyone Belongs

This eye-opening guide reveals a national crisis in school climate. The powerful voices of students describe more than bullying—they show a whole-school issue that must be addressed sensitively by every educator. Queer Youth Advice for Educators is a great resource for school counselors and all adults in a school building.Kwok-Sze Wong, American School Counselor Association

A must read for every parent, educator, and youth worker who wants to create safe harbor for all young people—a place where kids can honor the uniqueness of themselves and others as well as celebrate our common humanity. The wisdom and deep caring of the youth in this book will humble and hopefully embolden us to stand up for our kids and speak out against any injustice.Barbara Coloroso, author, The Bully, The Bullied, and the Bystander

This is an intelligent and useful resource for teachers. The book provides insight into the thoughts and feelings of students whose voices are too rarely heard.Rosetta Marantz Cohen, professor of Education and Child Study, Smith College

This compilation of urgent youth voices is a critical reminder that sometimes the most important thing an adult ally can do is listen.

- Eliza Byard, Executive Director, GLSEN

A rich, important, and powerful work, in which students teach us about their experiences and their wishes for safe, respectful and civil schools. I hope every K–12educator reads and reflects on this wonderful book.